Austin has plenty of reason to be proud of its recreational resources. We have over 200 parks, 23 greenbelts, 30 miles of hike and bike trails, and 44 swimming pools, more per capita than any other city in the United States.
Austin’s pools are much More than just places to splash around. Neighborhood pools are places of community gathering, socializing and family fun. The city has an excellent safety history. There has never been a single drowning in any of the city polls due to negligence, though there have been numerous Accidents in the area, lakes and rivers throughout history.
The city’s two waterfronts are Barton Springs and Emma Long Park. The remaining 42 pools are categorized as municipal, neighborhood and wading. Municipal pools are large and charge admission to cover the costs of operating the bath house. Neighborhood pools have an average size of 100 by 40 feet and have a park and playground attached to it. Wading pools are no more than three to four feet deep and are designed for kids up to 12 years. Neighborhood and wading pools are free.
None of the outdoor city pools are heated. Fourteen pools in the city system are drawn and filled pools. These pools do not use filtration and are comparable to sinks that are filled and drained every day. The drawl and fill pools use up to 72,000 to 145,000 gallons of water every day during operation. Each night, the water is dumped into area creeks or the city’s wastewater system. Needless to say, this is an expensive way to run a pool. In the past, the majority of Austin’s pools were draw and fill, but as the cost of water rose, the city began converting to filtered pools. Perhaps the most famous and beloved watering hole in Austin is Barton Springs. It is the largest natural swimming pool in the United States, located within an urban area, setting Austin apart from other metropolitan cities.
Barton Springs is Austin’s soul and sums up everything for which the community stands. A chilly swimming hole, the center of a political and environmental debate, a meeting place, barton Springs is all of these things.
Water probably sprang from the rocks. About 7000 BC. Barton Springs, actually, a series of Springs, emerges from fissures in the limestone at a rate of 26 million gallons per day. People who have witnessed the water surging out of the mouth of the mainspring, PARTHENIA, they say resembles a pulsating heartbeat. Water from Barton Creek no longer enters the pool. It is kept full from the spring alone, so the water is clearer and a constant 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
The springs are named for William Barton, an early colonist in Travis County who settled on what was then called Spring Creek with his three daughters, Parthenia, Eliza, and Zenobia. After his death, the springs passed through several families and a series of mills were built on the site. Eventually the land was acquired by Andrew Zilker, for whom the park is named.
A number of swimming holes dot the surrounding Barton Creek Greenbelt and can be accessed from the trail. One of these, Campbell’s hole has a small Pebble Beach. Legend has it Robert E Lee made numerous trips here while stationed at a camp to the West. Other famous people associated with Barton Springs are the outlaw Sam Bass, Bonnie and Clyde, and Jesse James.
Deep Eddy
It began as a natural swimming hole on the Colorado River, where a huge boulder sat over a hole in the limestone riverbed, forming a dangerous eddy. Cold springs rose from the banks and formed a primitive bathing area surrounded by stones. Hence, people began calling it deep Eddy. In 1857, a Swedish immigrant named Charles Johnson bought forty acres of the Deep Eddie site and built his home there. Johnson operated a limestone quarry where the current parking lot is located and built his home with the stone. In 1902, two of Johnson’s children, Henry and Mary, opened Deep Eddie as Austin’s very first public park, which included camping, picnicking, swimming and boating. The boulder was dynamited by one of the Johnson boys and the resort became a very popular attraction for tourists and locals alike.
In 1915,, Mary Johnson sold the park to AJ EILERS Senior who built the concrete pool. It was the very first outdoor pool in Texas. 19 rental cottages were built nearby for summer guests, along with concession stands and five acres filled with all sorts of entertainments, such as Charleston contests and shooting galleries. The name was changed to Deep Eddy Bathing Beach.
The pool became a circus like amusement park, including 70 foot slide that ran down the hill towards the river and emptied into the pool. There were springboards, a flying trapeze, flying rings, horizontal bars, and a 40 foot diving board that hosted. Special Lenora and her Diving Horse. There was also a Ferris wheel and carousel. Band concerts and dances were. Given twice a week and free silent movies were shown in the adjacent park. In 1920, one people flocked to see the world champion diving baby from Fort Worth, Martha Burke, who would dive from the high tower into the deep end.
In 1935, people began to encourage the City of Austin to acquire Deep Eddy, and on May 31, 1935, the City Council passed a resolution to buy the property for $10,000. Two weeks after the city bought the property, a flood inundated the entire city under 52 feet of water. The water washed away the deep Eddy bath houses, concession stands, and diving boards, leaving only the concrete pool that was filled with debris. However, Austinites pulled together and the pool was reopened on July 8th, 1936 with 4000 people in attendance.
Deep Eddy pool. Remains much like the way it was in 1936, although admission has increased from five cents to $2. The source of the water is a shallow 35 foot well dug by hand. It comes from the Colorado River and filters through sand and limestone to emerge pure, clear and cold. When the pool first opened, the water pumped so quickly that it didn’t require any kind of treatment. These days, about 35,000 gallons are pumped through a chlorine filter every hour and then pumped back into Town Lake. Deep Eddie Poole has some of the best lap swimming and the biggest waiting area in Austin. The two sections are divided by a low concrete wall. Eight lanes are designated for lap swimmers, and they are always busy. The water is a chilly 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. The remaining pools in the City of Austin system each have their own story to tell, and their own unique features.
